A year in, Erie Insurance project gives view of future

Construction of massive office building creates a sense of awe for those watching the work. "It is amazing to see the amount of planning that has gone into it."

Ed Palattella @ETNPalattellaJim Martin @ETNMartin

Ken Wargo enjoys one of the best views of the construction project that is changing the look of downtown Erie.

Wargo, a law clerk for U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Thomas P. Agresti, works on the east side of the second floor of the former main Erie County library building along South Park Row, part of the federal courthouse complex on Perry Square.

For a year, Wargo has looked up from his desk, gazed out the window and watched crews across the street frame Erie Insurance's new $135 million, 346,000-square-foot office building, the groundbreaking for which was on March 10, 2017.

"It's been amazing to see what goes on from start to finish," Wargo said several days ago, as he watched ironworkers set steel beams. "It is amazing to see the amount of planning that has gone into it. Everything seems to be there when it is needed. Everything seems to fit."

"This is like a front-row seat," he said.

Over the past several weeks, visitors to downtown Erie have been able to get a better look at the project, though still nothing to rival Wargo's view.

The crews have been erecting the building's superstructure, which gives an idea of how the seven-story project, to be done in another two years, will tower over the U.S. District Courthouse and other landmarks near Perry Square.

The steel beams are something to watch, and so are the cranes that reach into the sky — the type of cranes that have become fixtures in other cities across the United States where construction has boomed.

"Seeing the cranes in the skyline," is what Andy Zimmerman, the city's manager of code enforcement, said he likes most about the project. "It really shows that there is an interest in Erie going forward."

Zimmerman, whose building inspectors have been at the Erie Insurance site daily, said he looks forward to other construction cranes appearing throughout the city soon. They will be needed for the UPMC Hamot's seven-story patient tower, to be completed in December 2020, and Scott Enterprises' Harbor Place project, planned for the east bayfront.

That distinction belongs to the Renaissance Centre on State Street, which, at 14 floors, will tower over the Erie Insurance building.

But the sprawling Erie Insurance building figures not only to be the largest office space — as measured by square footage — in Erie County, it will also be three times the size of Erie's Bayfront Convention Center.

Like other big construction projects, this one invites a look at the numbers behind the work taking place outside so many downtown windows.

Here, from Erie Insurance, are a few of those numbers:

• Crews have moved 40,000 cubic yards of dirt. That's the equivalent of 2,200 truckloads.

• So far, 530 truckloads of concrete have been poured in the basement walls and floors of the new building.

• The height of the building, from ground level to the roof, will be about 122 feet. That will make it the eighth-tallest building in Erie, right behind Richford Arms at 126 feet.

There's another number that's even more important: 1,200. That's the number of new jobs Erie Insurance expects the new building will house as the company continues to expand over the next three years.

Tim NeCastro, CEO of Erie Insurance, has said more than once that he's excited about what that expansion means both to his company and to the community.

But when he looks out his south-facing window, in an office that once belonged to company co-founder H.O. Hirt, NeCastro is sometimes tempted to follow the lead of passing pedestrians, motorists and others within view of the project.

He stops and watches for a few seconds, thinking for a moment of the work taking place outside his window.

"We've got a great view of what's taking place here," he said.

At the federal courthouse complex, across from the Erie Insurance headquarters and Perry Square, the construction project continues to create a sense of awe among Wargo and others in Judge Agresti's office, including the judge, who has also been watching the activity.

"It has been fascinating," Agresti said.

His deputy-in-charge, Pam Jewell, who also has a window that looks out onto the project, said the construction has been distracting — but in a good way.

"Seeing a building built from a parking lot to a (seven-story) building, I've never seen that before. And every day is something new," Jewell said. "It is heartening to see new construction downtown — and jobs."

Wargo, for his part, doesn't sound too excited about the project being completed. The new building, welcome as it is, will also change what he sees out his window.

"Our view," Wargo said with a laugh, "is going to be pretty much gone when it is done."

Ed Palattella can be reached at 870-1813 or by email. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNpalattella.

Jim Martin can be reached at 870-1668 or by email. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNMartin.

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